Ben: I'm glad yours feels fantastic to you. I would never have called mine fantastic. Everyone has their own idea of what ideal is, and maybe you would think mine was fantastic as well!.. I tried adjusting mine again, after I got the jig with the 997 setup (while you can't actually USE the jig, as the shifter fulcrum is too high, you CAN adjust the lower links to match where they are supposed to be in neutral, assuming of course you have 2 complete assemblies to compare side by side). Mine was WAY WAY off from what the jig indicated was correct. And after I adjusted it, I fully expected i to be, well ..fantastic. And it still wasn't. Better, for sure, and liveable, but it still felt, well, aftermarket. Sounds insane, but the shifts are just TOO short. First was still significantly higher than the other gears, but the clunks, into 2nd & 4th were gone. I 'm keeping it for now, because I want to put some drive time on the 997 setup , and then decide. The 997 stick is still too long, but feels correct. And actually, 1-2-3-4 is very nice..it's 5-6 that are odd. Since 5-6 would never be used in any performance driving I would do, I'm not bothered by it much. But I MAY still go back to the B&M..I still have the original transaxle fluid in, and new fluid may be all I need to love the B&M.

 

sounds like something went awry with your setup or you have a super particular demand for shift feel which you'll never get from a german manual shifting car. they make some of the worst shifting manuals out of the box including porsche 911. they've improved a great deal in the 997s/caymans/987s etc.

many many people have installed the B&M kit to great satisfaction and for those of you worried about not being able to go back to stock.. who the fuq wants to go from great to mediocre? certainly not the next guy who wants your car.

 

Benjamin,

Totally agree -- I had an s2000 and absolutely loved the shifter... short, tight and very 'sure' feel to it.

(Though after an hour or more on the track the transmission heated up enough to make 2nd to 3rd feel thick and slow...)

I feel a little disappointed that my C4S 6 speed is not quite as good as the Honda s2k 6... so maybe I should get a short shift kit.

But some say its not great for a daily driver (which mine is), so not rushing to do it.

The s2000 was a pleasure to shift anytime. (That said, I would never go back -- the whole C4S package is way better.)

 

Not to dis the S2000 at all (my brother is on his 3rd), and while I would DEFINITELY rate the S2000 shifter worlds better than the B&M SSk on the 996, I would never say it was the greatest shifter ever. Very nice, and not worth modding, but not OMFG great. After maybe 4 weeks,I was surprised that I was getting tired of the B&M as a dailey driver shifter, and on a spirited multi-shfting route I used to do in my Z3 all the time, it elt too m any times like I was forcing shifts. And while the shifts are very short, because of the effort required, they are not really much faster, while the 997 shifts are definitely faster than the 996 OEM kit. More certain, very smooth. I have yet to take the car with the 997 kit out on my twisty route, though.

 

I just did the same link for cable movement measurement I did on the OEMs, on the B&M. For 5 cm of shift movement the B&M moves the cable a whopping 3.6 cm, compared to 2.7 for the 997 and 2.1 for the 996. That's a huge change!! In addition, where the overall length of the 96 and 997 shift lever are the same with the 997 having a higher fulcrum, the B&M is actually 1 cm shorter, FWIW, the **** also slides off much easier off the B&M than either of the OEM shift rods.

 

I stand corrected, but I was sharing what I read it in the last issue of Panaorama ...
I'm going swap out my stock 996 for the 997 unit ....

 

So is the 997 any shorter than the stock 996? or is it just smoother?

I talked to my mechanic today and he said he did not really care for these kits but I drove a friends new Vett last week and his car shifted so tight, I loved it.

 

The 997 shifter is not shorter but it has a shorter throw and is much smoother (I don't know why exactly). It seems that it flexes less or is engineered to sync with the cables more efficiently.

 

+1 Absolutely correct...no notchiness here either!

 

You know, B&M makes 2 short shift kits for the 996. There is one that replaces the lever and one that replaces the bits down on the transmission. I assume that most people here are talking about the one that replaces the lever, and I don't hear many that talk about the one that replaces bits on the transmission.

Just curious if that is actually the case... or are people talking about 2 different shifters and not realizing it?

I have the 997 shifter and plan to use the B&M that replaces bits on the transmission with it. Should be about a 40% total reduction in throw, which is about what the lever will give you, but replaces the bits that tend to develop play at the transmission end. Will report back.

I have also owned 4 s2000s. The transmission on the 00 was awful and croaked and ground in every gear. The 03 was fine, (although I only owned that one for 3 weeks) but was notchy when cold, and took a bit of heat into it before it felt really good. The 04 was ok, but would grind second after it got hot. The 06 shifter was easily the best of the bunch, and it's currently my ideal in terms of automotive shifters.

I personally hate too short a throw on a shifter and in many cases prefer a shorter shift **** to a full short shifter. That's why I put the 997 shifter in my 996... I actually think that the throw is just right, but it still has a lot of play in it, which is why I don't like it.

 

resurrection of an old thread.

i may as well follow-up as i am the one that started the thread.

to those that say i never adjusted the cables, well, i disagree with that. i have done the install about 6 times so far. i know how to make it work and i know how to adjust the cables. i did the last install in under 20 mins!


the B & M shifter I had, i sold to a friend and I installed it in his boxster. he loved it from the get go. he hated his sloppy stock shifter.

a week or two after he had it, he said it felt different. he came by and i drove it around, and i agreed, it felt different then when i first installed it. it felt like it had loosened up a bit.

to me, it felt better than ever. it was still really short, but the effort was somewhat decreased. less "notchy"


i dunno, i guess maybe it needed to break in.


so to follow-up:

1. my friend loves the B&M SSK, and the notchiness seems to have lessened after a week or so of driving (i only had it in my car for 5 days before i yanked it)

2. i still love my 997 shifter (but I have optional CF ****, which is shorter than the stock ****). to me, this combo is short enough.

3. i think everybody agrees the stock shifter sucks.

4. now thats it winter in the NE, my friend does complain about the high effort when cold. my 997 shifter, is not that bad. (but my stock 996TT shifter worked great even at -15 degrees!)

5. so i guess in the end its all personal preference


so if you're considering one, go find a friend with one installed and try them first. then you won't be disappointed.

 

I like the B&M short shifter, it has much more of a sure feel to it, and its a bit shorter, and it doesnt take that much more effort.

One problem I have is that going into 3rd, sometimes the shifter gets stuck, almost like it gets caught on a corner or something.

 

Had the OEM short shifter in my '06 Cayman S..........much better than the B & M in my 996.

 

Anybody try a schnell short shifter? Any comments people can give on that?

 

I have B&M and love it, but has anyone tried 996 SSK??